Rope-type handles are well known for carrying a variety of articles including electric storage batteries. A common rope-type handle includes a continuous (i.e., endless) length of rope having a segment of flexible tubing around the center thereof to provide a handgrip and two loops extending from opposite ends of the handgrip to engage the article to be carried. The handles are typically formed by joining (e.g., bonding, stapling, tying, etc.) the otherwise free ends of a piece of rope together to prevent their separation when lifting forces are applied to the rope, and the handgrip is positioned so as to cover the joint between the rope ends. Such tube-type handgrips are not ecstatically appealing and tend to bend under the weight of heavy articles (e.g., a Pb-acid battery) thereby causing discomfort to the carrier. Other rope-type handles have been made by the insert-molding process wherein the center and free-ends of the rope are inserted in a mold and plastic injected thereabout to form a rigid handgrip which embeds the free-ends of the rope to prevent extraction thereof from the handgrip. This technique is costly, time consuming, and requires specialized equipment.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a rope-type carrying handle in which a discontinuous length of rope is assembled with a handgrip by a simple cost-effective technique that insures retention of the free-ends by the handgrip but without having to insert molding the handgrip thereabout. This and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the description thereof which follows.